Wisconsin Attack On Educators And Other Public Workers Inspires

Notes From The Field

Submitted by Bobbie Cratchit*, February 22, 2011

I remember when I first decided that I would become a teacher.  For me it was not a lifelong dream, more a position of circumstance that brought me to the profession.  I needed a job in walking distance of my small junior college where I had begun freshman year as a social service major.  The Pre-Kindergarten School down the street was hiring a part-time before/after school caretaker.  It fit my needs and I took the job.  It was there that while working with the children I discovered a love for reading to children and helping them develop skills in math and life.

When I informed my parents of my decision to transfer to a four-year education program, my mother stated “Teaching is a noble profession.  You will not make much money and it is very hard work. “My parents supported me, as they always have, and I began my career as a teacher four years later.

It was not an easy road.  I worked full-time and attended classes at night for four years.  I received my degree one year past my expected graduation due to transferring my major.  Five years as an undergrad and one more year as a minimum wage Kindergarten teacher in a day care later, I landed my first salaried teaching job in a parochial school. Read the rest of this entry »

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy, February 17, 2011

In less than a week’s time, students from two Philadelphia neighborhood high schools have staged walkouts to protest the district’s plans to restructure their schools. These students have been the closest observers of the changes that have occurred at West Philadelphia and Audenried High Schools in the last three years.

Student protesters from West were witnesses to the noteworthy turnaround efforts of a dedicated staff under the leadership of former principal, Saliyah Cruz.  Then in less than a year’s time, they watched as those promising initiatives were squandered in the face of a poorly conceived and badly managed reform plan.

The students at Audenried are housed in a newly constructed multi-million dollar public facility that opened three years ago.  The junior class of this school will be the first group to graduate from this completely new school community. Read the rest of this entry »

Notes From the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy, February 15, 2011

Dr. Ackerman and her administrative team have finally acknowledged that the school district is facing a financial crisis.  They are anticipating a budget shortfall in excess of $400 million.  This is not unexpected news.  There has been considerable speculation in recent months of this possibility.

The size of this shortfall can grow even larger in the coming months depending on the outcome of three other factors.  First, the state might pass a voucher law that will be funded by revenue that would normally go to school districts.  Second, the Philadelphia School District may be forced to remove the cap on the number of students that current charter schools can enroll, if it loses a pending lawsuit.  Third, the state might cut the basic subsidy to public school districts as a means to deal with its own budget issues.

In the face of likely painful cuts to school district programs, Dr. Ackerman has stated, “What will be our first priority is the welfare of our students.” Read the rest of this entry »

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy, February 10, 2011

Martin Luther King was deep in the midst of organizing the Poor Peoples’ Campaign when he was assassinated in 1968.   The objective of this ambitious endeavor was to press for the passage of an Economic Bill of Rights for the disadvantaged.  King was determined to seek economic freedom for all Americans regardless of race.  He envisioned a great society.  It would be one where all citizens would be fully employed.  In the country he dreamed of, there would be affordable housing and equal educational opportunities for all poor people.   His dream was large and it contained multitudes.

When King and the other leaders of the Southern Leadership Conference committed to organizing the Poor People’s March on Washington, a second phase of the Civil Rights movement was initiated. These famous activists of the fifties and sixties had already succeeded in exposing the injustice and inequality of segregation. By launching this new campaign for economic justice, Dr King and his colleagues intended to broaden the scope of their work and advocacy.  King sought to shine a spotlight on the needs of the poor.  He planned on uniting people of all races in a movement to break the shackles of poverty in order to obtain economic freedom for all Americans. Read the rest of this entry »